


Heads Will Roll

by ThatGaiaGirl



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass V (Cyberpunk 2077), Bisexual Johnny Silverhand, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Cyberpunk 2077 Spoilers, Cyberpunk 2077-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends, Fix-It, Long, Multi, No Beta We Blow Up Like Arasaka Tower, Nomad V (Cyberpunk 2077), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Life Partners, Platonic Relationships, Soft Johnny Silverhand, Trans V (Cyberpunk 2077)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29105892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGaiaGirl/pseuds/ThatGaiaGirl
Summary: V’s life was taking a turn for the better. After a messy breakup with their clan, she found a brother in Jackie Welles and a life in Night City, for better or worse.She’d never have thought it’d lead her to a bathroom in the No-Tell Motel, blood on her face and a priceless Relic in her skull. At that moment, with an armed & agitated fixer behind the door, she had one objective:Escape.***What if the confrontation with Dex happened differently?
Relationships: Alt Cunningham/Johnny Silverhand, Johnny Silverhand & Female V, Judy Alvarez/Female V, Kerry Eurodyne/Johnny Silverhand
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73





	1. Prologue: Don’t Make Me

Everything had gone to shit.

Why, _why_ , did life feel the incessant need to rip every good thing from her. Peaceful living with her clan was ruined by Snake Nation, leaving her stranded and lonely. Jackie was her in; the only family Night City cared to give her. He infected her with his dreams of glory, of fame. Hell, she could even hear his voice when she thought about it.

_Just imagine it, chica! You and me, at the top of the food chain! Misty and I will move to some high-rise suit, and you can finally pay back Viktor._

She could almost laugh. It was such a silly dream, but it had them both hook, line and sinker.

Jackies dead eyes were enough to snap her back to reality.

V looked down at their hands, still stained with her brother’s blood. The pressure built in her skull, slowly swirling until it ripped out of her mouth and rocketed her fist into the mirror. All for a stupid fucking chip.

They leaned against the door, barely enough energy to keep standing. What were they supposed to do now? Dex was right, escaping Night City was their best bet.

_Dex._

Her heard swarmed with warnings. Not to trust Dex’s exterior, to watch their back. You could never trust a fixer in this city, and with a job going _this_ sideways?

V gathered their thoughts. One Dexter, one bodyguard. She checked the RAM she had left.

_Huh. Not too shabby._

She opened the bathroom door, quickly ducking out of sight. Dex’s muscle entered, almost immediately crying out as she short-circuited his cyberware. More effective on bots, but desperate times...

V charged past, fucking with Dex’s optics before he could get a shot off. They swiped the gun from his hand and fired backwards as the guard came-too. Bullet right through the throat, judging by all the gurgling.

She planted the barrel right between DeShawn’s eyes as his optics came back on line.

“Nice try, asshole.”

_Bang_.

V did their best to wipe the brains off her shoe on their way out. After all, it’d just blend into the red of the carpet.


	2. Where’s Your Head At?

Leave Night City. That was all she needed to do.

V was ready. After all those years living as a Nomad, they were prepped to leave the city at the blink of an eye. Their car was charged, the essentials already packed.

_Even if you run, Arasaka can find you._

She last remembered thinking of calling Misty and Vik, they were owed an explanation to her sudden disappearance. Halfway out to the Badlands, they’d pulled up the contact details as the smell of rotting trash started wafting in.

Which makes the fact that V was now handcuffed to a fridge in a rubbish tip all the more confusing.

She barely remembered it: getting out of her car, pacing in circles as she formulated what she was going to say and then... nothing. Judging by the ache in the back of her head, someone must’ve knocked her out.

Polished shoes entered her frame of vision. “Ah, you are finally awake,” a voice that sounded eerily familiar said from above her. V looked up at her kidnapper’s face, and her heart stopped.

Saburo Arasaka’s bodyguard. Oh _fuck_.

Their breath came out in short gasps. Only one thing they could try to get out of this, and it was possibly even stupider than invading Konpeki Plaza in the first place.

“Wait, you need to listen-“

He smacked her. Across the face. _Ow_. She saw him winding up for another punch, not even registering what came out of her mouth in the panic.

“Takemura!”

He paused, and V took that as a cue to keep going.

“Your name is Takemura, right? You were Saburo Arasaka’s bodyguard, I saw you with him at Konpeki.”

Anger crossed Takemura’s face, so V rushed her point before she was hit again.

“Yorinobu killed Saburo!”

...

“What?”

V kept going. “You have a lie-detector built in, right? All Arasaka bodyguards do. Use it.”

He paused, glaring at her.

“Very well.”

He knelt, pulling her head up with a fistful of her hair as he connected the lie-detector.

“Tell me what happened at Konpeki Plaza.”

_Here goes nothing._

“I was hired to steal a Relic from Yorinobu Arasaka with a choom of mine. We didn’t know Saburo Arasaka would be there, we were forced to hide in the HoloTV before we could escape. Saburo sent you out of the room before you could detect us. I saw Yorinobu strangle his father to death in anger. It wasn’t poison.”

Takemura’s eyes widened in disbelief as the lie detector confirmed her words. “No...”

“You _saw_ the body!” V cried. “If I could see the strangle marks around his neck, then so could you. You know I’m telling the truth.”

Nothing.

He disconnected, and V grunted in discomfort. There was a weird ache in the back of her skull. The lie detector must’ve messed with her cyberware. “I must go,” is all he said before running off.

“I’ll just stay here then?” they shouted after him. So much for that. V couldn’t even focus on breaking out of the handcuffs with the pressure building in her head. Seriously, what did Takemura’s software awaken?

It wasn’t long before she started to grow tired. This was no place to fall asleep, but it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice. Her back was going to kill her when she woke up.

***

_The corridor was dirty, tinted like the smog outside. There was a girl leaning against the wall, calling out to them as they passed. No, not them, it was someone else. They were just seeing through new eyes._

_There was a man at the end of the corridor. When he tried to stop them, they- no, the Stranger pushed him against the wall, gun in hand. They saw the Stranger’s face in the mirror: dirty, framed by lanky black hair. The Stranger pushed past onto the stage, V still seeing with him._

_He grabbed the microphone,_ screamed _into it. They could feel his anger; a foreign entity on the edge of her awareness. Groupies stared after him as he walked backstage, a voice stopping him at the door._

_It was a man, someone the Stranger knew but V didn’t._

_**Kerry**._

_He didn’t want them to go. The Stranger cupped his cheek, and V felt something like melancholy bubbling inside him._

_“Fuck this band. Not your gig, not your scene, do your own thing.”_

_The words felt so right to him, but meant nothing to V. The Stranger left, swapping grimy floors for the sleek metal of a helicopter. There was a woman with him. V knew her, but from where, she couldn’t place._

_**Rogue**._

_They flew through the city, buildings screaming the year at her. 2023._

**_How long has it been?_ **

_The Stranger dropped onto the roof of Arasaka Tower, picking his way through corpses and blowing the heads off any corp who dared show their face. That anger was back, a far better fuel than any gasoline._

_There was a bomb, a bomb the stranger set up as the TV blared his own accomplishments behind him. He was thrown, faster than she could comprehend, crashing to the floor of the tower._

_They ran._

_The Stranger was so close to escape, so close to freedom when something more metal than man pulled him back to earth._

_**Smasher**._

_The Stranger tried shooting him to no avail. He was knocked out, blipping in and out of consciousness as Arasaka kept him living. V felt the time pass too quickly._

_She didn’t know where they were now. Neither did the Stranger, apparently. V registered the pain he felt as they smacked him, taunted him into telling them what they wanted to know. They stopped when someone else entered the room; Saburo Arasaka, a dead man walking._

**_Not the only one._ **

_They knew they should be in pain. They should be screaming, writhing in agony as the wreath on their head fried them from the inside out. But it wasn’t their pain; it was the Stranger’s._

_V watched listlessly as they felt him die._

***

V woke up with a start, no time to comprehend whatever the fuck her mind just showed them before they felt the cuffs loosen around their wrists.

“Wha-Takemura?”

He looked like shit. Bags under his eyes, legs barely holding him up and hands shaking. “No time- we have to go,” he said, showing her into a nearby car.

“You are armed?” he asked as they gunned it down the street. V rolled her eyes and produced her pistol.

“Good. Be wary.”

Just as he said that, something landed on the boot of the car with a _thud_. Whatever V was expecting to see when they turned around, it wasn’t that.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

There was an assassin. A ninja assassin. An Arasaka ninja assassin, with a mantis blade stabbed right into the bloody car. 

V landed a bullet in his shoulder. Growling, he pulled the blade free to slice her in two.

_Bad move._

They shot his feet from under him, sending him hurtling onto the tarmac below. She allowed herself a smug grin as he vanished into the distance.

This moment of relief was immediately cut short by the round of gunfire above her. V cursed as three Arasaka drones dropped down to tail them, aiming for the car’s engine. Her eyes lit up as they reloaded, time slowing down in her head as she worked her way through the grid to break their ICE.

The closest drone short circuited, crashing to the road. V started shooting at the remaining two as she waited for the quickhack to recharge. The one to the left of her shifted it’s line of fire, focusing on flatlining them whilst the other continued on the engine.

V grit her teeth as a pounding began in the back of her skull. _Engine takes priority_. She aimed right down the drones line of sight, lead burying itself in it’s centre and felling it for good. They tried to check their cyber deck, but her newfound headache distracted her. Turns out her nap did little to quell it.

Bullets tore through the door beside her, sending shrapnel flying as V instinctively shielded their face. They hissed as pain laced through their arm, only worsening the storm in her head. She scowled at the drone as she fired off another shot, taking out it’s guns and sending it spiralling through the air like a panicked bee.

The headache refused to stop. At this rate, she was beginning to suspect Takemura uploaded a virus to her system when he jacked in. The pressure kept building, and _building_ , and as they looked down at their left arm...

**_Not again._ **

V’s forearm was in tatters. The skin torn off in grooves, molten metal glued to the churning red matter underneath. Blood escaped where silver wasn’t blocking it. Takemura looked over, eyes wide. “You need a ripperdoc.”

She nodded. “I know someone. We should be able to trust him, I’ll transfer the location.”

His eyes lit up as she felt the warmth grow behind hers, a blinking notice informing her that the data was sent successfully. The car swerved as they changed route towards Vik’s. V sighed and collapsed into the seat, cradling her arm.

Huh. The headache was gone. She hadn’t even noticed.

_**I don’t like this.** _

...what?

_**There’s something wrong.** _

V opened their eyes. They felt... uneasy? No, not _them_. It was like watching someone else’s mind through a glass window, seeing their emotions as clearly as hers.

**_Look up, goddamnit!_ **

Something landed on the hood of the car, slicing through V’s jacket like butter. 

She screamed. 

Takemura stole the gun from her limp hand and fired, bright flashes muddying her ever-blurring vision. She vaguely registered the red working it’s way through her shirt. 

She was going to pass out. _Fuck_.

The car stopped, and V stumbled out. She recognised the Esoterica, managed to see Misty’s face through the haze as she ran to get Vik.

V barely made it through the door before she collapsed.


	3. Little Talks

V didn’t know how long they were out. All they know is they woke up at Vik’s, a dull throbbing in her torso.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty.” Viktor Vector sat down next to her, joking smile on his face. She winced as she sat up. “Hey, Vik. Sorry for the short notice.”

He shrugged. “According to your driver, it wasn’t _entirely_ your fault this time, so you’re off the hook for now.”

V’s hand went to her chest. “How bad is it?”

“Your lucky; the blade didn’t cut that deep, so it wont scar. The arm was worse, had to pick the shrapnel out myself.”

She examined her left arm. It was still bandaged, but didn’t hurt nearly as much as before. “Thanks, Vik.”

V fell back into her chair, sighing. What a clusterfuck her life had become. Speaking of which...

“Did you run a check on my Cyberware? Kept getting these headaches and weird-ass dreams, think I got a virus.”

Vik winced “What I wanted to talk to you about, V. First... these dreams. What happened in them?”

She frowned as the memories resurfaced. “It didn’t _feel_ like a dream... more of a shitty braindance. I could feel his emotions and sensations, but... it was more like _seeing_ them than actually having them affect me. There was a concert... god, he nuked a _building_ , Vik.”

He nodded. “Then it’s what I thought. V, you were watching someone else’s memories.”

“...what?”

Vik stood up, arms crossed as he explained. “There’s a biochip in your head, right? Running separately from your system.”

“That’s the Relic. Had to put it in my head for safekeeping.”

“Right. Well, that Relic has an engram on it.”

V frowned. “An... engram?”

“A digital psyche, an exact AI copy of a human mind. Memories included.”

She shook her head. _No way_.

“So... I’m sharing my head with someone else?”

The dream played over in their head. Right at the end...

“I... I saw him die, Vik. I have a dead guy inside me.”

Vik sighed. “Not just any dead guy, V. You know Johnny Silverhand? Rockerboy who blew up Arasaka Tower back in 2023?’

V rolled her eyes. “Yeah, of course I-“

...

_Oh._

“No. No way.”

Vik nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

She leaned forwards, staring Vik right in the eye. 

“You mean to tell me I have a fucking terrorist in my head?”

_**Enjoy it while it lasts, kid.** _

V’s head was starting to hurt, and she couldn’t tell if it was her or her guest. She was sharing her body with a terrorist? What the hell did this mean? Could he control her? Could he read her thoughts? Why was he on the chip in the first place, and why the hell could she _hear_ him?!

Vik’s hands found her shoulders. “V, hey, calm down. It’s not the end of the world.”

“What the hell does this _mean_ , Vik?! Can he do anything to me?!”

He sat down, keeping his eyes on her. “I know it’s strange, but don’t get this wrong; _you_ are the one in control here. Silverhand is just a passenger in your head.”

V’s hand went to the slot behind her ear, to the Relic. “Can you get him out?”

Something shifted in Vik’s eyes. “If you were here earlier... maybe.”

Her heart dropped. “Maybe? What do you mean, maybe?”

He sighed, eyes dropping to the floor. “The chip was damaged, V. After it booted up inside your head, it... attached itself to you in order to stabilise itself.”

“Attached?”

“It’s the only way I can describe it. Point is, we try to take it out now and it becomes junk. It’s acclimatised to your head, so the moment it leaves, it’ll short circuit and all it’s data will be immediately erased.”

If that’s all that would happen, he would’ve already ripped it out. “And what would happen to _me_ , Vik?”

Their eyes met. “Nothing terrible, but there’s a high chance the chip will short circuit before it’s fully removed. Best case scenario, Cyberdeck gets a little fried and I have to hook you up with a new one. Worst case... your memories get jumbled. We’re talking permanent issues, I can’t risk it.”

She didn’t even realise her hands were shaking before she brought them to her face. “So I’m stuck like this.”

“Afraid so.”

Vik walked over to his monitor, pulling up what looked like brain scans. V could see the Relic in them. “From what I can see, the chip is designed so the body’s host and the engram could interact. Don’t know what it’ll look like, but expect Silverhand to try and talk to you.”

She manoeuvred herself off the chair, ignoring the dull pain in her abdomen as she walked over to examine the scans. If she was going to live with this, might as well be informed. “What else does the chip do?”

He flicked over to a seperate scan. “Looks like it was supposed to be put in an empty vessel. Technically speaking, Silverhand has the ability to hijack your body.”

“WHAT?!”

He turned to V, grabbing her before she could panic again. “He can only do it if you give him permission, and even if that happens, you’ll still be aware of everything and able to take back control anytime.”

God, she was hyperventilating. V focused, focused on some good memories and felt her chest slowly start to rise and fall in a normal rhythm.

“There we go, V.” Vik smiled. “I know you can deal with this, kid; you sift through bigger assholes than this one on a daily basis.”

Her chuckle came out solemn and empty. “Truer words.”

Vik gestured to the chair. “Need you to stay for a few more hours. Once that arm of yours is healed, you’ll be good to go.”

“Fair enough,” V said, as situation began to settle itself in her head. “Might go talk to Misty.”

He went back to fiddling with his tech. “Sounds good to me.”

***

V flexed the muscles in their arm. “Feels fine,” she called over her shoulder.

“Readings came back the same way,” Vik responded, moving to disconnect the wires he’d attached earlier. “You are officially free to go.”

Misty came in to hug her before V could take a single step. “Good luck out there, V,” she said. They felt something slide into their back pocket before she stepped away.

“Thanks, Misty,” they smiled. “About Jackie...”

Misty shook her head. “He was a beautiful soul, V. But you have bigger things to worry about.”

The two shared a solemn look as V turned to leave.

“V! One more thing, it’s important.” Vik’s voice stopped her in her tracks a second time. She turned, hoping whatever he had to say was good.

Vik’s demeanour had changed from relaxed to serious in a dime. “Whatever happens out there, do _not_ flatline with that thing in your head.”

Strange advice, given that flatlining was generally to be avoided whether you had a brain parasite or not. “Lemme guess, I flatline and we both die?” V said, slightly unimpressed.

He stared at her. “From what I’ve seen... might be something even worse. Just be careful.”

V gulped involuntarily. Fates worse than death were _not_ on her list of expectations, but she was quickly learning that was a list to throw out.

She left Misty’s Esoterica, marking her apartment and watching as her optics laid a path on her map. As she walked, she had time to think about all that just happened.

So. They were hired to steal the last remnants of a terrorist musician from the 2020’s. Who wanted Silverhand’s engram, and why? They had to go through Evelyn, so they wanted to stay anonymous. Maybe someone who knew him when he was alive? Maybe a modern revolutionary looking to recreate the 2023 bombing?

_**Doesn’t matter much now.** _

_God_ , that was weird. There has to be a way for them to shut him up.

They closed their eyes as they entered the elevator, focusing on the chip. A little gasp escaped her lips as she felt it, felt _him_ pressed against her conscious. They thought about their net running, about constructing ICE for clients and to protect her own systems. How was this chip any different?

Her eyes snapped open in time with the elevator doors. It was flimsy, but she’d made something to block Silverhand’s consciousness. Maybe they could construct something more substantial after examining the chip and it’s code.

The door to her apartment closed behind her as she collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. Something pressed sharply into their thigh, causing them to remember that Misty slipped them something. V dug around in their pocket until they felt it, pulling it out.

It was a flat disc made of dark resin, filled with silver dots and hanging from a thick, dark cord. It looked like the night sky; the one from her childhood in the Badlands, not dulled by the lights of the city. As she looked closer, she realised the silver was the shrapnel Vik took from her arm. A reminder of what happened.

They smiled, hanging it above their bed as they sank further into the blankets. God, she could use some sleep right now.

***

 _Thud_.

The sound echoed in V’s ears as they were forced awake.

 _Thud_.

She flipped over in her bed, searching for the source.

 _Thud_.

There was a man leaning against her window, repeatedly banging the back of his head into the glass. V knew his face; the one she saw in the mirror, the man from her ‘dream’. He flickered, like a character sprite would before their game crashed. _Digital psyche_. 

The wall in her mind had been broken.

“Silverhand.”

He turned to her. The glasses over his eyes made his expression unreadable.

_**And who the fuck would you be?** _

She scowled. “You _know_ my name. You have to.”

 _ **Of course I know your name**_ , he said, disinterested, _**just know jack shit about the person who owns it.**_

V stood, walking right up to him.

“Listen up, rockerboy. You’re stuck with me until I can find someone to remove this chip safely, so you better behave or I swear to god I’ll find a way to de-activate it myself.”

Silverhand drew himself up to his full height, taking a drag of a cigarette that hadn’t existed a second ago. They stood eye to eye.

_**Don’t threaten me, merc.** _

There was a sound like a program buffering, and Silverhand was gone. She could feel his presence behind her.

_**Need a cigarette. Where d’you keep yours?** _

“Don’t smoke,” she said, tone clipped as she turned to him. He was taking in her apartment from behind the glasses, exhaling smoke that didn’t exist and couldn’t affect him. 

_**Have to get out of here, understand?** _

He turned to her.

 _**I’ll kill** _ **anything** _**that gets in my way. You included.** _

V stalked up to him, fists clenched and teeth gritted.

“Just you fuckin’ try, asshole. I’m in control here.”

She’d cornered a wild animal, only a matter of time before it bit back. Silverhand’s face twisted as he growled.

_**Enough of this- who do you work for, start talkin’!** _

V gasped as they felt his metal hand grab her wrist like a vice. He recoiled instantly, like her skin had burnt him.

“You touched me,” she said. “How the fuck did you touch me?!”

 _ **You think I know?!**_ he shouted back, glitching away to pace around her doorway. _**I’m new to this too, asshole!**_

He shook his head, hands moving to rub his eyes under the glasses. _**Just... tell me what you are, kid.**_

“Why don’t you just look through my memories and find out? It’s not like I’ve seen a shortage of yours!”

 _ **Not how it works**_ , he said. _**Can’t access them. All I know is context, and the context says it’s been 50 years and nothing’s fucking changed.**_

Well, that was... unexpected. She sighed, crossing her arms. “Well, if it answers your questions and gets you to leave me alone... fine.”

He turned to look at her, confusion evident in his face. _**Wait, seriously?**_

She rolled her eyes. “Easiest route, asshat, now let me focus.”

V closed their eyes again, this time focusing on her memories. There must be a way...

There. A bridge between the chip and her mind, closed off on all but a few exits. They grimaced as they raised the barrier to their memories, feeling his experiences chafe against hers as free passage opened up both ways. Her eyes opened.

“Happy now?”

Silence. Then, Silverhand’s image disappeared. She was alone.

_Thank god for that._

They flopped onto their bed, flipping to face the ceiling and drawing the blankets over themselves like a mountain. She’d have to figure out the rest of this tomorrow, because right now she _really_ needed to sleep.

Maybe this time a dead terrorist wouldn’t wake her up halfway through.


	4. Dare

V woke with a start. She sat up quickly, taking extra care in scanning her apartment.

_No spontaneous glitching. No Silverhand._

They let out a sigh of relief as the _actual_ thing that woke them up became apparent; Takemura had contacted them. They grumbled as they sifted through their messages. All he’d left was a location and a demand to meet.

She heaved herself out of bed, taking a good long look at herself in the mirror before her daily shower. The bags under her eyes had never been more obvious. The hot water managed to wash some of the past day’s stress, along with the dirt, but it wasn’t a miracle worker.

V shook out her hair as she dressed, halfway through working it into her signature braid when she heard something glitch.

_**Mornin’.** _

She yelped, whipping around to face Silverhand’s construct whilst brandishing her silver hair-clip as a weapon. He looked *far* too amused with himself.

_**Didn’t see anything, if that’s what your thinking.** _

Scowling, they clipped off the end of their braid and stood up to find their jacket, acutely aware of who was behind them.

_**Nice undercut.** _

She stared at him as she pulled the jacket over her shoulders. “I’m guessing you’ve finished with my memories, then?”

They could feel the eye roll from behind the glasses. _**Yeah, yeah, nothin’ much of interest. Might’ve pegged you wrong, though.**_

They frowned. “What do you mean?”

Silverhand raised an eyebrow. _**Invading Konpeki Plaza like that takes guts, kid. Plus, you almost got away with it, so that counts for something.**_

“Yeah. Almost.” The door to her stash slid open, showing off her new acquisitions from some of the unfortunate Arasaka guards from Konpeki. She let herself admire them before going for her best pistol. Silverhand glitched into view, lounging on the bench.

 _ **You’re not actually going to talk to that ‘Saka asshole after he left you in a fuckin’ junkyard, right?**_ V shrugged.

“Meeting him doesn’t mean trusting him. Why do you think I’m bringing my custom iron?”

 ** _Good woman_ ,** he said, smirking as he disappeared. If Silverhand just kept offering snide comments until they died, then maybe this ‘sharing a mind’ arrangement could actually work.

“You gone?”

**_For god’s sake, you don’t gotta speak out loud to me. People will think you’ve gone psycho._ **

That... actually makes sense. _Hear me?_

_**Loud and clear.** _

_Perfect, now shut up._

As V dumped her usual excess of Bounce Backs and spare shards into her pockets, she felt Silverhand appear again, this time near the coffee table. She watched as his eyes locked onto the pride flags framed on the wall. A famously ass-holish rocker boy from 54 years ago, staring at the colours she was so proud of. This could go horribly.

_**You’re queer.** _

_Like you didn’t know that from my memories._

His emotions reared their head, and V felt something like... offence?

_**I only looked at the past couple days, V. Only thing that’s relevant for me to know is how you got your hands on me. Didn’t think I’d tapdance all over your goddamn childhood, did you?** _

Huh. _Well, thanks... I guess._

He turned back to the flags. _**Lesbian, huh? Can’t blame you, got a preference for girls myself.**_

That kind of language... _hang on, are you-_

_**Bi. Like every rocker worth his salt.** _

V snorted. _Alright, I’ll give you that. Though I think I prefer Bowie._

_**It’s 2077, how the hell do you know Bowie?** _

_Legends never die, Johnny boy._

He smirked, gesturing to himself. Not tootin’ your horn, but I think I’ll agree on that one.

V moved to smack him, hard. _Careful, asshat. My threat still stands._

_**I got it, deckhead.** _

His gaze shifted to the trans flag. **_...Can I ask-_**

 _She/they_ , she answered prematurely.

_**Two for the price of one. I like it.** _

They were about to come up with a witty retort when he disappeared. _Troll._

She couldn’t lie; V was secretly kind of glad her and Silverhand had common ground to stand on, even if it’s as superficial as their mutual queerness. Having some form of solidarity is better than a repeat of last night, and for now it seemed her tapeworm was content with smug comments rather than shouting matches.

_I could get used to this._

_**We’ll see.** _

***

The diner was small, tucked away in a dark corner of the city. V knew that’s why Takemura chose to meet here, of all places; a misguided attempt to secure his safety.

There’s no way he was still a part of Arasaka now. A corpo who’d lost everything, only reminder of his old life being the dead implants weighing down his body.

V could almost imagine it.

She slid into the seat across from him. Her guest had remained respectfully quiet after their morning encounter, and V preferred it that way. More space to think, more time to figure Takemura out.

The bags under his eyes were clear as day. Arasaka policy was to deactivate all company cyberware on dismissed personnel, and for a body guard? It was bound to take a while to recover.

“You have healed well,” he said, eyes fixed on the cheap coffee clasped in his hands. “I had taken you for a dead woman, given your injuries.”

“Us lowly rats are more resilient than you’d think,” she dead-panned. His face twitched lightly, but apart from that, no reaction.

“Look, why’d you help me? Could of left me in that junkyard and split, would’ve been safer.”

“I need you alive,” he said simply, “and that has yet to change.”

He sipped his coffee quietly as V contemplated what he meant. Probably had to do with witnessing Saburo’s death, but she wondered...

“This about the Relic, too?”

He finally looked at her in the eye, betraying a sort of morbid curiosity that sent shivers down her back. She had the feeling that stare unsettled someone else, too.

“Yes... I heard it was damaged beyond repair. Removing it could prove disastrous for you in the long run.”

Of course he knew. “Vik’s a talker, huh?”

“He is responsible for your quick recovery, I would be thankful.”

“Already am.”

She sighed, laying her arms on the table as she leaned forwards.

“Let’s cut to the chase... why call me here? What do you need?”

Takemura set the coffee down, hands taking the same steeple position every corpo’s took when things got serious.

“Evelyn Parker. I need to find her, and I know you had contact with her.”

V quirked an eyebrow at that one. “The hell’s she to you?”

“Yorinobu Arasaka had... intimate relations with her. If anyone can get to him, it is her.”

They chuckled humourlessly. “Prolly need to find her myself; after all, she set this shit-show into motion. Promised to help get rid of the chip.”

Takemura shook his head at her. “Do not count on that; she is long gone by now.”

“What, been lookin’ for her yourself? She knows how to hide.”

His hands fell flat on the table as he broke eye contact with her.

“You truly believe she can help you? Does she have ties to a corporation?”

They didn’t need to think hard about that. “Of course not. Corpo’s have a way about them; can’t mask the natural scent of skulduggery for long, but Evelyn? Only whiff I got off her was cold-blooded determination.”

He gave them a look of confusion. “I, too, smell of this ‘skulduggery’?”

“That, and everything else.” She coughed for effect. “May wanna consider a shower sooner or later.”

He gave her an exasperated look that was far too amusing. Well, maybe not for _her_ , but for a certain guest...

“V. Yorinobu Arasaka must answer for his crimes, and I need you in order for that to happen.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that one.

“Justice? In Night-fucking-City? Here I thought you had a decent head on those shoulders.”

Takemura smirked. “Not justice, exactly... simply revenge. Far more attainable.”

Well, at least he knew what he was dealing with, if only barely. “You are the proof I need to bring Yorinobu to his knees.”

“Well, they’re definitely going to trust _this_ face.” She pointed to herself, covered in piercings, solid black ink rolling over her skin in bricks. The literal opposite of ‘aesthetic’ corpo minimalism.

“It is all I have. I have no connections, no safety net; I am a fugitive with nowhere to run.”

 _Nowhere but Night City._ The pangs of her old life echoed in her head. She knew what it was like to loose everything you took for granted.

Her hands went to her face. “So what, we storm into Arasaka tower, plug me into a lie detector and shout murder from the rooftops? Please tell me you’ve got something better, because I’m still recovering from the last stupid plan.”

Takemura grimaced, and the someone else inside her registered a small note of victory. She resisted the overwhelming urge to eye-roll.

“In that case... you have a biochip stuck inside you. Arasaka will try to reclaim their precious immortality tech, and other corporations will use this as an opportunity to steal it from under them. You are the unwitting finish line in this race, and the only one who knows what will happen when they finally secure their prize by removing it. The chip is gone, but you can still be saved. Arasaka made this tech, and they are the only ones who can remove it.”

V frowned. “You mean people like Anders Hellman?”

His eyes widened. “How do you know this name?”

“Not just some gonk off the street, y’know. Did my research before the job, this Relic is Hellman’s baby.”

Takemura scoffed. “He is the designer, maybe, but a pawn following orders. He managed to escape from Arasaka, finding him is fruitless.”

The bar TV came on before Takemura could continue. An interviewer was sitting across from none other than Hanako Arasaka herself, immaculate in a white dress and gold cyberware. The bartender switched channels quickly.

“Fuckin’ ‘Saka scums everywhere.”

Takemura’s face twisted in anger. “Hey! I was watching that!”

“Shut up. Nobody ‘cept you wants to watch shit about that corpo cu-“

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

Takemura was standing before she knew it; that self-righteous corpo anger had taken hold. Not that she could blame him, if someone had insulted a member of her clan that way, well...

Inside her, someone scoffed.

“Let it _go_ , Takemura,” V hissed. She gave the barkeep her best ‘he’s new here’ eyes, and thank her lucky stars it worked.

“At least one of you’s got sense.”

Takemura returned to his seat.

“I am... sorry. Old habits.”

“I know, I know,” she sighed. “Think I get it. Look, I need to think about this for a while. Get back to you.”

He deflated, eyes on the table. “I also need time to prepare. Until I am ready, all I ask is that you remain in Night City.”

“Where else have I got?” Her voice sounded hollow. “There’s no one on the outside who can help me.”

Something twisted in her mind. “...but that doesn’t mean I have to go to Arasaka.”

“Who else would be capable of assisting you?”

V tilted their head slyly. “How ‘bout we start with the engineer who went off-grid? Bound to know something about the Relic he made, after all. Just have to get to him before Arasaka does.”

“I looked for Hellman myself- he is gone, and I doubt he would return. He alerted Saburo to Yorinobu’s schemes, and I had hoped he would be a secondary witness. My trail went dead at the club called the ‘Afterlife’. Their ‘Queen of Fixers’, Rogue... did not take kindly to my request.”

Something inside her perked up at the mention of Rogue, foreign memories starting to press against hers. She really didn’t need them; everyone knew Rogue.

“ _You_ got an audience with Rogue? What, told you to fuck off when she saw the suit in you?”

“Not exactly. She did not wish to associate herself with a murder-suspect.”

They suppressed a shiver as a strange sort of clarity formed in their head. Her feelings, thoughts, ideas- they’d perfectly aligned with Silverhand’s. His past and her future.

“Rogue’s got informants all over Night City, there’s no back-alley rumour that doesn’t make its way to her. If I want to find Hellman, she’s as good a bet as any.”

Takemura’s expression shifted, an echo of something much more affronted. “The woman is incredibly rude and expensive. I wish you luck.”

“As for our second option... Evelyn Parker. Bet I can find her, if I get lucky.”

He gave her a pained look. “She cannot help you.”

“Ever heard of honour among thieves? Could be useful, especially...”

V remembered; the girl Evelyn took her too, skin patterned with roses and eyes wide beneath a fountain of coloured hair. They remembered her parting smile after helping her with the BD, and they weren’t sure why.

_Judy._

“I doubt your contacts would be helpful. You need a backup plan.”

Takemura looked around timidly, seemingly terrified to stand.

“I cannot stay. Look for whoever you want, I must call in some favours. I will contact you again when the time is right.”

All V had time for was a quick nod before he bee-lined for the door and escaped. Something glitched in her peripheral as she watched him go.

They looked back to the chair across from them to find a grinning Johnny Silverhand drumming his fingers across the tabletop like kid high on sugar.

_**Well, well, looks like I finally met someone as stubborn as I am!** _

They wasted no time stink-eyeing him into submission. _The hell do want now, parasite._

He put his hands up in mock surrender, putting his feet on the table at the same time. _**No need for that, V. Wanted to make a truce. Have more days like today rather than whatever the fuck went down last night.**_

V tilted their head, trying to discern any hidden agendas. He had one, they could tell from the tense emotions filling their head, but his face didn’t give anything away. Those goddamn glasses blocked any emotion from coming through.

_**And why should I trust you? What, we’re both queer so we’re buddy-buddy now?** _

The sheer exasperation radiating from him almost made _them_ sigh in annoyance. _**Look, I get it, okay? You woke up as a corp prisoner in a landfill, I woke up wrestling with all your thoughts and emotional turmoil. We both want me out of your head, kid. No reason to keep baring teeth.**_

They considered it. He was right; fighting would make everything harder, and she’d teamed up with weirder to deal with mutual problems in the past (Maelstrom immediately came to mind, which she forced back down before she thought too much about Jackie).

_Alright then, Rockerboy. What’re you offering?_

They could see his smile widen, and relief bled from his thoughts to theirs. _**We can help each other out, you and I. Knew Rogue back in the day; of course she’d be the one to survive**_. A chuckle escaped his lips, V felt wistfulness in him. _ **Managed to work her way to top dog while the rest of us were left in the dust. We go to her, I get her talking and Hellman’s as good as ours.**_

She scoffed. _What, I burst into the Afterlife and tell her I got a brain tumour claiming it’s her dead best friend, askin’ to kidnap a suit? Great plan there, Johnny._

His heel tapped against the tabletop as he shook his head. _**Very funny, merc. You know what I mean. Get me to Rogue and I’ll make her sing. Got nothin’ on Parker, though, but I’m willing to be an extra pair of eyes.**_

He knew Rogue, he knew the merc scene better than her, and he knew Arasaka. _Fine_ , she mentally spat, _but you better not try anything._

_**We’ll be clear in no time, trust me.** _

_No ‘us’, asshole._ They got up quickly, leaving the diner far behind.

First things first: Judy Alvarez.


End file.
